


Sleepless

by ClockworkDinosaur



Series: Davekat Week 2016 [5]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Davekat Week 2016, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Insomnia, M/M, Trolls on Earth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8162426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClockworkDinosaur/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: Dave is restless and finds himself in a bar.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Davekat Week day 5- Randomly Generated Prompt  
> The keywords I got were-  
> Setting: Club/bar  
> Genre: Plot? What plot?  
> Trope: Friends to Lovers  
> Prompt: Insomnia  
> And I used this generator: http://bleep0bleep.tumblr.com/prompts
> 
> I can't believe it's already day 5 :0

There were probably better places to spend a sleepless night, but Dave still found himself in the dark and seedy bar at midnight with a cold bottle in hand. He wasn't even drinking it (he _hated_ beer), but sitting alone in a booth with nothing probably would have gotten him some strange looks.

Not that he wasn't already getting them, considering the fact he was wearing sunglasses and was still alone, but at least he looked somewhat like a bar patron.

His fingers tapped a beat on the beat-up wooden table, foot tapping in time with the song he was working on in his head. He couldn't seem to shut his mind off, but at least his insomnia was giving him lots of time to make some sick jams.

“You look like a fucking lunatic,” said a familiar voice, and Karkat slid into the booth across from him, eyebrows raised. “Seriously, take off the damn sunglasses, Strider. You're inside and it's the middle of the night.”

Dave shook his head. “No can do, if I take these off I'll be swarmed by adoring fans in seconds. So many people would be hopping on my dick it wouldn't even be funny. I'm a celebrity now, Karkat, I gotta go incognito.”

“You've released one album, you arrogant douche,” Karkat said with an eye roll. Dave shrugged, still not making a move to remove his shades.

Karkat crossed his arms on the table, leaning forward. “So what are you doing here anyway? And why are you drinking some cheap-ass beer that smells exactly like hoofbeast piss?”

Dave looked at the drink in front of him, having almost completely forgotten about it. “Oh yeah. I'm not actually drinking that.”

“Okay, so you bought a beer for the aesthetic. Got it, makes total fucking sense. That still doesn't explain why the hell you're here,” Karkat pointed out.

“I could ask you the same question.”

Karkat glared. “You could, but I asked first.”

“I couldn't sleep,” Dave said. “I needed to get out of the house, so I came here because it's the closest place that's open twenty four-seven and isn't a Wal-Mart. Trust me dude, I spent enough time in Wal-Marts after midnight, you do not wanna be there once the freaks come out. This bar is moderately better.”

Karkat frowned. “I can't sleep either.”  
“Let's suffer together,” Dave said, picking up the bottle, tilting it in Karkat's direction in a half-assed toast, and setting it back down again without actually taking a sip. Karkat snorted.

“Don't you have work tomorrow?” Dave asked, head tilted as he leaned back against the wooden back of the bench.

“Yeah, I do. And I already know that I'm going to be fucking miserable because my sorry ass can't sleep. I swear to all that is fucking good in this world that if Vriska tries to bitch at me at all for whatever reason, I will fly off the goddamn handle,” Karkat said, his face twisting up in annoyance.

Dave rested his chin in his hands. “How do you of all people work retail without getting arrested? People are so fucking rude and idiotic. I worked retail for one damn summer and almost hung myself in the break room daily.”

“Oh trust me, I consider it,” Karkat said. “But the trick to dealing with dumbass customers is to just scream internally, constantly.”

Dave laughed and Karkat grinned, unused to hearing Dave laugh so genuinely. They both ended up staring at each other for a second before looking away, bright red rushing to both of their faces.

“So uh,” Dave said after a moment. “Did you listen to my album, by any chance?”

“Of course, why wouldn't I listen to my best fucking friend's music? I mean, I'm not a fan of human music but, yeah,” Karkat said with a shrug.

“What'd you think? Be completely honest. I mean, I'm sure you have an essay on my genius prepared but just give me the summary.”

He joked, but Dave was genuinely interested in Karkat's thoughts.

“What if I thought it sucked, you self-important fuck?” Karkat asked with a raised eyebrow. Dave shrugged.

“Did you?”

A second of hesitation. “No, I loved it honestly. I knew you were talented. Don't let that get to your head and act like a cocky bastard though.”

“Wouldn't dream of it. But if you ask nicely I'll totally autograph your copy. That'll put the resale value at about four-point-five billion dollars,” he said, lowering his glasses and winking. The sight of his vivid red eyes always sent a thrill through Karkat.

“I'm pretty sure scrawling a dick on the cover of your CD would only lower the resale value,” he said, very deliberately trying not to show how flustered he suddenly was.

“I would never disgrace my masterpiece with a _scribbled_ dick. I'd spend days lovingly rendering every line of that dick in photo-realistic detail,” Dave said seriously.

Karkat couldn't help himself. He laughed, shaking his head as Dave grinned at him from across the table.

Dave loved to see Karkat laugh. The angry lines between his eyebrows smoothed out, lips pulled up and his face taking on just the barest hint of red.

“I'm an artist, Vantas. My dick pics are in museums,” he went on, before a yawn caught him off guard. Karkat squinted at him.

“It's almost three in the fucking morning, Dave. You really gotta get some sleep,” Karkat said. Dave checked his phone. 2:43 in the morning.

“Shit, you're right,” he said. “Walk me home?”

Karkat nodded, standing up with Dave. Dave left his shitty now room-tempature beer on the table and walked out.

Summer was starting and the night was warm. Karkat pushed up the sleeves of his gray sweater.

“Why not just wear a t-shirt?” Dave asked, the still and humid night giving his words a close quality. “I don't think I've ever seen you in anything aside from a sweater.”

Karkat shrugged.

“Is it the... troll blood thing?” Dave asked quietly. Karkat grimaced.

“Yeah. My veins are a dead fucking giveaway for how much of a freak of nature I am,” he said.

“Sorry.”

Karkat shrugged. Dave was one of the only people who knew, and Karkat almost didn't mind that his secret was out.

They were quiet for a few blocks, passing dark neighborhoods underneath sparse streetlights. Dave glanced at Karkat, took a deep breath, and brushed his hand against his in a way that could have been accidental. Karkat jumped a bit, but didn't say anything.

Hesitantly, Dave slipped his fingers between Karkat's. Karkat didn't pull away, his fingers wrapping around Dave's hand.

Dave's heart was racing. He didn't know what possessed him to hold Karkat's hand.

Except he did. He just _wanted_ to. It felt like every nerve ending in his body was now focused in his hand, feeling Karkat's skin against his own. He held on lightly enough so Karkat could pull away of he wanted, but firm enough to feel his rough skin and his warmth.

Karkat was in a similar state of internal panic. Dave's hand felt small and fragile and so human in his own, but he wanted to keep holding it forever. He worried that his hand would feel weird, his skin too hard and alien. That didn't stop him from holding Dave's hand all the way back to his apartment.

Dave reluctantly let go to fish his keys from his pocket, not looking at Karkat as he unlocked his door. He turned to Karkat and took a deep breath.

“On a scale from one to ten, how cheesy would it be of me to kiss you right now, after you walked me home at night and held my hand?” he asked.

“You held my hand first, jackass,” Karkat blurted. Dave raised an eyebrow.

“So, like, a three then?”

Karkat huffed, then pulled Dave by his white t-shirt, pressing his lips to Dave's for a moment as blood rushed to his ears and his blood-pusher thudded against his ribcage. He let him go and looked up at him, gauging his reaction.

Dave was breathless, blinking down at Karkat with eyes wide underneath his sunglasses.

“That was a ten,” he said, then leaned down and kissed Karkat himself, his lips parting, tasting Karkat and not separating until he was gasping for air.

“We're breaking the cheesiness scale here, dude,” Dave said. Karkat laughed, leaning his head on Dave's chest.

“Do you wanna come inside? It's too late for you to walk home so we can chill if y-”

“Yes,” Karkat interrupted, grateful for the fact that Dave couldn't see how flushed his face must have been. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Dave took Karkat's hand, opening his door and pulling him inside.

 


End file.
